Ballasting system for locomotives



C. K. STEINS BALLASTING SYSTEM FOR LOCOMOTIVES Sgpt. 23, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 29, 1949 ATTORNEYS.

p 2 1952 C. K. STEINS 2,611,325

QBALLASTING SYSTEM FOR LOCOMOTIVES Filed Nov. 29, 1949 Sheeyts-Sheet 2 61 53 51 OF 55 a5 a 4% 52 IIIIII ATTORNEYS.

WITNESSES g dwi m z I Patented Sept. 23, 1952 BAIJLASTING SYSTEM FORLOCOMOTIVES Carleton K. Steins, Overbrook, -'Pa., assignor 'to The Pennsylvania Railroad Company, :Pliila- ,delphia,-Pa., a corporation ofiPennsylvania Application November 29, 1949, Serial-.No..1'3.0;035

6"Claims. ;1

This invention relates to 'ballastingsystems for locomotives, particularly for locomotives wherein -the"body eontains=a fuel storage compartment in one end --and a fuel consuming power :source such as a steambollerlinftheother-end, and wherein the body'issupp'orted at i'ts opposite ends by sepalately-powered -SWlV1led trucks with spring suspensions respectively "beneath the fuel compart- "ment -'and the boi1er. Theballast system of my present invention is in e'fiect an-improvement vupon -a, generally :similar "one disclosedfin a copending -application Serial No. 656,9 l2 filed by me on March 25, 1946, "now Pa'tent No. 2,590,473 in which water ts used as the ballast medium and automatically transferred from awater storage "compartment in a -coup'led tender to a ballast compartment inthefulcompartment on thelocomotiveas the fuel is consumed, and-vice versa, when the fuel is replenished, so that the load maintained on 'the truck beneath the fuelcompartment is always-equal to that on the truck "beneath the boiler and slippage is thereby prevented between the drivers of the two trucks.

'The chief aim of -the instant invention is t provide, in-aballastin system-of the kind referred to, a flow control *means' which is more 'sensitiveyas the "fuel supply decreases or .is re- -:plenished and which will accordingly respond more quickly 'itO relaxation for flexure of the springsof'the tru'ck supporting the fueliandiwater ballast compartment end of theslocomotive than 1 .the 1 corresponding 'means. of-.my priorapplication supra.

.Other objects andattendant advantages will appear from :the following detailed description of the-attached drawings, -wherein-- p I Fig. 1 is a view, in side elevation, of a steam locomotive conveniently embodying -my present invention.

Fig. 2 isna transverse section through the body of the locomotive .taken as indicated. by the langledarrows'lL- IIinFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary View, inside elevation, of a .portion of the front end-0f the locomotive drawn to .ailarger scale and showing .pump and valve means through the media .or which .the transfer oftheballastwater is inducedand controlled.

.Fig. 4 is a view-corresponding to Fig.3, drawn to a. stilllarger scale and showing certain oflthe parts'in section.

*Fig. 5 is a'fragmentary view in transverse section taken as indicated by the angled arrows -V V in"Figs.'3 and l.

'-Figs.-6 and! are'fragmentaryviews-correspond- 7 '2 ing to Fig. 4 showing the controlvalve indifierentzpos'itions of operation.

The locomotive herein illustrated and generally "designatedby the numeraliilin Fig. l, is identical with the "one shown in my aforementioned prior application, and'to itis connected a, tender 2! by means of the coupling at 22. Within the-rear .end of the locomotive body23 is an horizontallyelongate boiler 24 which provides the :steam for operating the engines (not illustrated) of independentlyiswive'led powered front andzrear trucks 25 and "26 respectively having multiple driving wheelsfl and 28. Aftercommon practice in :the art, thetrucks 25 andIZB areprovided with spring suspensions asconventionally indicated, and associated with them respectively, .are smaller Wheeled independently swiveled leading or guide trucks 29 and 30. Within the front end of the ;locomotive body :23 aresacompartment :or {bunker 3- l for fuel, and two lflanking compartments r32 'Fig.2) for-ballast water, these several compart- =ments being disposed directly over the 'front truck -25, while the weight of the boiler 24'5is 'supported directly abovethe-reartruck 2 6. Within the tender 2-1 is a ballast water reserve .or storage' compartment 735, and extending between the latter and the water ballast compartmen't 32 on the locomotive is a pipe line 411, 41. Interposed in the piping 40, A l is a rotary pump 42 and a reversing slide =va1ve l3 which are supported from the "body I of the'locomo'tive at the level "of-themain frame l lp'f the .fronttruck'ZB over the associated guide truck z 9 as best shown in Fig. '3. The pump '12 is direct connected to a driving 'turbine '45 supplied with steam from the boiler through 'a .pipe d6, the "flow ibeing regulata'ble'bymeans of'the hand valve tf l'l. Thetend ports .50 and 5! of .control valve 43, 1see'Fig. 4, are -in communication withvthe suction and pressure sides of the, pump 42.1w ay of pipe's'l52 and "53 and between. saidFpQrts :isaby-pass 54 which :connects "with the section 40 of the water transrferi'linezthrough a short :branch 5:5. The check tvalve at r55 :prevents reverse .EflQW in the 1 pipe 53. Opposite the by-pass 5'4,'theb0dy:0f control 'valve #43 :has zanother byep-a'ss 515 1 'whichtis :connected to ithe :section T4! :of tithe :line iconduit. by a lshort branc h 58. The slide IE! -:o'f the valve 243111243 spaced circumferential grooves 82 and 2.6.3, and :normally occupies the neutral position in which 'it is shown in Fig. 4,:so "that water will be normally circulated i'dly through the pump 42 by way ofthe pipes'52 andL-Edandthethen communicating ports 50, 5| -and 5 l in the :valve bodyas 3 indicated by the arrows in Fig. 4, the by-pass 51 being closed at this time.

The improved automatic control means, with which the present invention is more especially concerned, includes a horizontally-arranged. cylinder 65 which is hung from the body of the locomotive, and whereof the piston rod 66 is direct connected to the piston 6| of control valve 43. A spring 61 acts upon the piston 68 in the cylinder 65 to maintain the valve 43 normally in the neutral position in which it is shown in Fig. 4. Extending from the front end of cylinder 65 is a pipe 69 which, through a flexible tube 10, is connected with the upper end of a second cylinder H which is vertically disposed and secured to the frame 12 of the small leading or guide truck 29 associated with the front drive wheel truck 25. The lower end of the piston rod 13 of cylinder H is diametrically reduced, as shown at 13a in Fig. 4, and passes loosely through an aperture in a shelf bracket 15 projecting outwardly from the equalizer bar 76 of the guide truck 29 at the center as shown in Fig. 5. At its protruding end, the piston rod 73 is provided with a stop nut TI. Seated on the shelf bracket 15, with its upper end engaged by a cap collar '18 fast on the piston rod 13, is helical compression spring 19.

Liquid, such as oil is used in the cylinders v(55 and 1|, the oil being supplied from a reservoir 80 on the locomotive body, through a pipe 8| which extends downward to a T fitting 82 at the juncture between the pipe 69 and the flexible tube 10. By means of the stop valve indicated at 83, a definite constant amount of the oil is trapped in the cylinders 65 and H and in the piping 69, 10.

Operation As previously stated, the valve 43 is normally in neutral position so that water is idly circulated through the pump 42 as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 4. As fuel is consumed and the load on the front drive truck tends to lighten, with attendant relaxation of the main springs of said truck as well as the springs of the associated leading guide truck 29, upward movement of the cylinder 1| will take place relative to its piston. As a consequence of the suction thus created in the top of cylinder 1|, liquid is drawn from the cylinder 65, whereupon the piston 68 of the latter is forced by the spring 61 to draw the slide 6| of valve 43 to the right as in Fig. 6. As a consequence water will be transferred, by action of the pump 42 and by way of the piping and 4|, from the reservoir 35 in the tender 2| to the ballast compartments 32 on the locomotive to compensate for the fuel weight loss. This action will of course take place occasionally during travel of the locomotive, the frequency depending upon the speed at which the locomotive is driven and hence the rate of fuel consumption, and will not be influenced by spasmodic action of the truck suspension springs in view of the flexible connection of the piston rod 13 of cylinder H with the equalizer bar 16 of the guide truck 29 through the spring 19.

Upon subsequent refilling of the fluel compartment 3| and consequent increase of the load on the front truck 23 and flexing of its suspension springs, liquid will be forced from the cylinder 1| into the cylinder 65, and act upon the piston 68 of the latter to compress the spring 61 to force the slide SI of valve 43 leftward as in Fig. '7. Under these conditions, water will be transferred by the pump 42 through the piping 40, 4|, from the ballast compartments 32 on the locomotive to the storage compartment 35 on the tender to compensate for the increased weight of the replenishing fuel on the front drive truck 25. In this way, it will be seen that the load on the front truck 25 is automatically maintained uniform and equal, at all times, to the constant boiler weight on the rear truck 26 of the locomotive, to the advantage of efiectively preventing slip as between the drivers of the two trucks.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A ballasting system for a locomotive having a body with a fuel storage compartment in one end thereof, and a fuel consuming power source of constant weight at the other end thereof, separately-powered drive wheel trucks with spring suspensions yieldingly supporting the body respectively beneath the fuel compartment and beneath the power source, and a coupled tender; said system including a ballast water compartment in the fuel compartment end of the locomotive body, a water storage compartment in the tender, piping between the ballast water compartment and the water storage compartment in the tender, a continuously operating pump interposed with a flow control valve in the piping, a cylinder with a piston for actuating the valve and with spring means influential upon the piston to maintain the valve normally set for idle circulation water in the pump, a vertically-arranged cylinder mounted upon a spring cushioned member of the truck beneath the fuel compartment end of the locomotive with its piston rod connected to a spring-supporting member of said truck, and a flexible conduit serially connecting the two cylinders whereby, upon relaxation of the springs of said truck as fuel is consumed, fluid is displaced from the last mentioned cylinder into the first mentioned cylinder to move the piston of the latter and thereby actuate the valve for transfer by the pump, of fuel weight loss compensating water from the tender to the water ballast compartment and maintenance of a con stant load on the powered truck beneath the fuel compartment end of the locomotive body.

2. A ballasting system for a locomotive according to claim 1, wherein the connection between the piston rod of the second mentioned cylinder is flexible to the extent of permitting normal up and down movement of the truck without affecting the system.

3. A ballasting system for a locomotive according to claim 1, wherein the connection between the piston rod of the second mentioned cylinder and the spring supporting member of the truck comprises a fixed guide projection on said member apertured for free passage of the piston rod downwardly through it, and a damping spring interposed between said projection and a collar on the protruding end of said piston rod permitting normal up and down movements of the truck without affecting the ballasting system.

4. A ballasting system for a locomotive having a body with a flle1COI1Sl1miIlg power source in one end thereof, and a fuel compartment at the other end thereof, separately powered driving wheel trucks with spring suspensions yieldingly supporting the body respectively beneath the power source and beneath the compartment, a pilot truck associated with the powered truck beneath the fuel compartment, and a coupled tender; said system including a ballast water compartment in the fuel compartment end of the locomotive body, a water storage compartment in the tender, piping extending between the ballast water compartment on the locomotive and the tender, a continually running pump interposed with a flow-control valve and with a spring influential upon the piston to maintain the valve normally set for idle circulation of water in the pump, a vertically-arranged cylinder mounted upon a spring cushioned member of the pilot truck with its piston connected to a spring supporting member of said pilot truck, and a flexible conduit serially connecting the two cylinders, whereby upon relaxation of the springs of the pilot truck as fuel is consumed, liquid is displaced from the last mentioned cylinder to move the piston from the first mentioned cylinder for actuation of the valve and transfer of fuel Weight loss compensating water from the tender to the ballast water compartment and maintenance there-by of a constant load on the powered truck beneath the fuel compartment end of the locomotive body.

5. A ballasting system for a locomotive according to claim 4, wherein the connection between the piston rod of the second mentioned cylinder is flexible to the extent of permitting normal up and down movement of the pilot truck without affecting the ballast system.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,246,477 Shepard Nov. 13, 1917 2,413,119 Steins Dec. 24, 1946 2,467,703 Steins Apr. 19, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 269,608 Germany Jan. 26, 1914 

